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Insurance commissioner warns of rising property/liability costs, urges flood‑risk outreach and resilience measures
Summary
Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mays told the committee market factors — supply‑chain disruptions, inflation, labor costs and climate losses — are pushing property/casualty premiums higher and urged consumer education, resilience investments, updated flood mapping and continued work to attract captive insurers.
Connecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Andrew Mays told the Appropriations Regulation and Protection Subcommittee on Feb. 14 that rising replacement and labor costs, climate‑driven disasters and supply‑chain disruptions are increasing property and liability insurance rates.
Mays said insurance regulators review all rate filings to ensure they are not excessive, arbitrary or unfairly discriminatory, but cautioned that broader market forces can require higher premiums. “We have been monitoring it… I’m not necessarily sure, given the uncertainties of the world today, that this tradition of increasing base cost… will not continue,” he said.
The commissioner highlighted flood risk as a key area for consumer outreach and resilience investment. He described work with outside modelers (e.g., First Street Foundation) and recommended producing accessible, address‑level risk information for homeowners so they can make informed mitigation decisions. “My goal would be to have a part of a website… you put the address in, and it gives you this readout,” he told the committee.
Mays also said Connecticut is actively encouraging captive insurance formation and has worked with the legislature to modernize captive law to attract firms. He praised the SIFCIC (crumbling foundations) program as a successful targeted use of public funds.
Why it matters: rising costs affect homeowner and auto premiums statewide; flood risk and climate events are increasing the frequency of billion‑dollar disasters nationally, and localized mapping and mitigation can both reduce consumer losses and lower insurer liabilities.
Follow‑up: Mays offered to collaborate with legislators on outreach and to provide more detail on captive activity, flood‑mapping options, and translation/accessibility of consumer materials. Committee members asked for translated materials and for coordination with GIS and municipal planning offices.
Ending: The Insurance Department asked for additional support for outreach and suggested state‑level efforts to encourage resilience investments that could moderate future premium increases.
